Members of the Independent External Peer Review panel accepted each response given by my team here in Jacksonville. We could not have moved forward to present at the Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works Review Board in Washington or to the signing of the Chief of Engineers’ Report without this concurrence. More importantly, during the board hearing, the panel made the recommendation for the project to move forward.

Our salinity modeling predicts that the deepening would cause salinity to increase 0.2 parts per thousand at the Acosta Bridge.

This is minor because the salinity at this location can naturally range between 1.4 to 14.4 parts per thousand. This wide range is directly linked to factors such as high or low rainfall.

We used a very conservative simulation period for modeling purposes: a six-year period with the only three consecutive dry years on record.

Our engineers and scientists also predict that the proposed deepening would result in minor increases in salinity stress on wetlands, including forested wetlands, and submerged grass. We don’t predict any loss of wetlands, submerged grass beds or trees.

We also avoided more significant salinity impacts by decreasing the dredging footprint by seven river miles during the study process.

In addition, the model that we used to predict salinity and ecological impacts underwent extensive tests, documentation and applications in more than 200 modeling studies worldwide by research institutions, governmental agencies and consulting organizations.

The U.S. EPA states that the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code is a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model that has evolved over the past two decades to become one of the most widely used and technically defensible hydrodynamic models in the world.

We also predict less than a 5 percent change in fish distribution. This does not mean a loss of fish species, just the possibility of minor shifts in locations.

We don’t anticipate shoreline erosion to increase as a direct result of the project’s construction.

But the Corps of Engineers does not regulate ship traffic along the St. Johns River; this is governed by the U.S. Coast Guard and state and local agencies. Future changes in types of vessels, transit frequency, vessel speed, proximity to shoreline and other operational parameters may occur in any case. Future storm and drought events could also impact shoreline erosion over time.

We used the best science and engineering expertise, methods, techniques and processes to make our recommendation.

As a federal agency, our duty is to fulfill the mission as directed by Congress and be accountable to the taxpayers we serve. We did that in an exceptional manner and remain dedicated to providing quality, responsive service to the nation.

Col. Alan M. Dodd is district commander of the Army Corps of Engineers.